MANILA, Philippines?Four hunger strikers have refused to be brought to the hospital Thursday despite a strong recommendation from visiting members of the Philippine National Red Cross.

?They refused to be brought to the hospital after a Red Cross doctor told them there?s no assurance they could still go back to the protest camp after their hospitalization,? said Jaybee Garganera, coordinator of the national alliance Alyansa Tigil Mina (Alliance to Stop Mining).

The hunger strikers, on their 10th day of protest Thursday outside the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, also rejected the visiting Red Cross physician?s advice for them to take chocolates or fruits, Garganera said.

Two Mangyan protesters were rushed to the hospital over the weekend after suffering from hypoglycemia, a condition produced by a lower than normal level of blood glucose triggered by a lack of solid food intake.

The Mindoro protesters have been demanding the immediate revocation of the environmental compliance certificate issued by Environment Secretary Lito Atienza to the Mindoro Nickel Project of Norway-based Intex Resources.

The Mangyan leaders said the project?which straddles the municipalities of Victoria, Pola, and Socorro, in Oriental Mindoro, and Sablayan in Occidental Mindoro?encroaches on their ancestral domain.

Protesters also said the ECC was issued despite a 25-year moratorium on large-scale mining issued by the provincial government of Oriental Mindoro and numerous municipal and village ordinances prohibiting the nickel mine project in Occidental Mindoro.